Choosing to Live More Simply
While nations turn away from the discredited philosophy of communism, having realized that it is based on wasteful and undemocratic notions, Charles Birch (Op-Ed Page, March 7) calls out for a global resurgence. He decries the fact that some people and nations are rich while others are poor, laying all of the blame for the world’s ills on the wealthy.
Almost every major blessing of modern life has been brought to the world be “the rich.” Polio, small pox and the bubonic plague were defeated by the rich. Instant, worldwide telecommunications, high-speed transportation and computers were developed by the rich. The list, obviously, is endless.
We have many challenges before us. The way to meet these challenges isn’t for the industrialized nations to “live more simply.” Rather, we have to become wealthier still so that we can fund the research that will solve the problems bought on not by the rich, but by the fact that we live in a very complex universe.
JEFF BRODY
Venice
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